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Blood Falls Geochemical Formation

The remarkable Blood Falls is an outpouring of iron-rich, hypersaline water which flows from small fractures in the layers of ice.

The source of the water is a subglacial pool, lying beneath approximately 1,300 ft (400 m) of ice. This pool sits about 2 mi (3.2 km) from the point where it emerges from the ice.

The precise size of the pool which spawns the Blood Falls also remains undetermined. Beneath the glacier, and between it and the underlying rock layer, is a region of brine with such a high saline level that it has remained liquid.

Rather high concentrations of ferric oxide within the deposit create a unique color.

Source: http://bit.ly/19hut56 Image Credit: Michael Studinger, NASA

Blood Falls Microbial Ecosystem

Due to its inherently unique development, Blood Falls also contains an incredible ecosystem of its own. Within its depths, autotrophic bacteria evolved and those actually metabolize ferric materials and sulfates for nourishment. In simple language, that is like eating iron.

An analysis of the water of the falls shows it contains at least 17 different species of microbes, and virtually no oxygen. Further, these microbes utilize sulfates as a catalyst for respiration.

Blood Falls is the only known place on earth where a form of life utilizing this metabolic process has been discovered. The rather amazing location presents scientists with the ability to study such a unique ecosystem thankfully without the need to drill down to it.